Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa

Andy I.R. Herries; Jesse M. Martin; A. B. Leece; Justin W. Adams; Giovanni Boschian; Renaud Joannes-Boyau; Tara R. Edwards; Tom Mallett; Jason Massey; Ashleigh Murszewski; Simon Neubauer; Robyn Pickering; David S. Strait; Brian J. Armstrong; Stephanie Baker; Matthew V. Caruana; Tim Denham; John Hellstrom; Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi; Simon Mokobane; Paul Penzo-Kajewski; Douglass S. Rovinsky; Gary T. Schwartz; Rhiannon C. Stammers; Coen Wilson; Jon Woodhead; Colin Menter

doi:10.1126/science.aaw7293

Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa

Andy I.R. Herries, Jesse M. Martin, A. B. Leece, Justin W. Adams, Giovanni Boschian, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Tara R. Edwards, Tom Mallett, Jason Massey, Ashleigh Murszewski, Simon Neubauer, Robyn Pickering, David S. Strait, Brian J. Armstrong, Stephanie Baker, Matthew V. Caruana, Tim Denham, John Hellstrom, Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi, Simon MokobanePaul Penzo-Kajewski, Douglass S. Rovinsky, Gary T. Schwartz, Rhiannon C. Stammers, Coen Wilson, Jon Woodhead, Colin Menter

Human Evolution and Social Change, School of (SHESC)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Understanding the extinction of Australopithecus and origins of Paranthropus and Homo in South Africa has been hampered by the perceived complex geological context of hominin fossils, poor chronological resolution, and a lack of well-preserved early Homo specimens. We describe, date, and contextualize the discovery of two hominin crania from Drimolen Main Quarry in South Africa. At ~2.04 million to 1.95 million years old, DNH 152 represents the earliest definitive occurrence of Paranthropus robustus, and DNH 134 represents the earliest occurrence of a cranium with clear affinities to Homo erectus. These crania also show that Homo, Paranthropus, and Australopithecus were contemporaneous at ~2 million years ago. This high taxonomic diversity is also reflected in non-hominin species and provides evidence of endemic evolution and dispersal during a period of climatic variability.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	eaaw7293
Journal	Science
Volume	368
Issue number	6486
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw7293
State	Published - Apr 3 2020

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Herries, A. I. R., Martin, J. M., Leece, A. B., Adams, J. W., Boschian, G., Joannes-Boyau, R., Edwards, T. R., Mallett, T., Massey, J., Murszewski, A., Neubauer, S., Pickering, R., Strait, D. S., Armstrong, B. J., Baker, S., Caruana, M. V., Denham, T., Hellstrom, J., Moggi-Cecchi, J., ... Menter, C. (2020). Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa. Science, 368(6486), Article eaaw7293. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw7293

Herries, AIR, Martin, JM, Leece, AB, Adams, JW, Boschian, G, Joannes-Boyau, R, Edwards, TR, Mallett, T, Massey, J, Murszewski, A, Neubauer, S, Pickering, R, Strait, DS, Armstrong, BJ, Baker, S, Caruana, MV, Denham, T, Hellstrom, J, Moggi-Cecchi, J, Mokobane, S, Penzo-Kajewski, P, Rovinsky, DS, Schwartz, GT, Stammers, RC, Wilson, C, Woodhead, J & Menter, C 2020, 'Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa', Science, vol. 368, no. 6486, eaaw7293. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw7293

@article{98608579d9674b5f8ff8b67133c67f23,

title = "Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa",

abstract = "Understanding the extinction of Australopithecus and origins of Paranthropus and Homo in South Africa has been hampered by the perceived complex geological context of hominin fossils, poor chronological resolution, and a lack of well-preserved early Homo specimens. We describe, date, and contextualize the discovery of two hominin crania from Drimolen Main Quarry in South Africa. At ~2.04 million to 1.95 million years old, DNH 152 represents the earliest definitive occurrence of Paranthropus robustus, and DNH 134 represents the earliest occurrence of a cranium with clear affinities to Homo erectus. These crania also show that Homo, Paranthropus, and Australopithecus were contemporaneous at ~2 million years ago. This high taxonomic diversity is also reflected in non-hominin species and provides evidence of endemic evolution and dispersal during a period of climatic variability.",

author = "Herries, {Andy I.R.} and Martin, {Jesse M.} and Leece, {A. B.} and Adams, {Justin W.} and Giovanni Boschian and Renaud Joannes-Boyau and Edwards, {Tara R.} and Tom Mallett and Jason Massey and Ashleigh Murszewski and Simon Neubauer and Robyn Pickering and Strait, {David S.} and Armstrong, {Brian J.} and Stephanie Baker and Caruana, {Matthew V.} and Tim Denham and John Hellstrom and Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi and Simon Mokobane and Paul Penzo-Kajewski and Rovinsky, {Douglass S.} and Schwartz, {Gary T.} and Stammers, {Rhiannon C.} and Coen Wilson and Jon Woodhead and Colin Menter",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the student excavators from the La Trobe University (LTU) Drimolen Palaeoanthropology and Geoarchaeology Field School and University of Victoria Field School, as well as the University of Florence Archaeological Mission to Drimolen. In particular, we thank LTU Ph.D. student R. Curtis who first found parts of the DNH 134 cranium. We thank D. Smith, J. Smith, and K. Nkosi, the landowners at Drimolen at various stages and who granted our permission to work at the site, in conjunction with the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA). The DNH 152 cranium is named after the landowner (Khethi) as he excavated with us on the field school and discovered the first tooth. We say a special thanks to our co-author Simon Mokobane for his many years of work at the site. Simon recently passed away from cancer and he will be remembered fondly by many generations of people who have worked at Drimolen. In recognition of this, we have named the DNH 134 cranium after him (Simon). This work would not have been possible without him. We thank D. Bilardello, M. Jackson, and J. Feinberg for their help and advice while measuring at the Institute of Rock Magnetism. We thank B. Zipfel for facilitating access to the hominin collections at the University of the Witwatersrand. The bulk of this research was funded by Australian Research Council Future Fellowship Grant FT120100399 to A.I.R.H. and ARC Discovery Grant DP170100056 to A.I.R.H., J.W.A., D.S.S., and R.J.-B. The U-Pb analysis was funded by ARC DECRA DE120102504 to R.P. The US-ESR dating was supported by ARC DP140100919 to R.J.-B. Work at the site by the Italian Archaeological Mission was supported by a series of grants by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to J.M.-C.; C.M. thanks the National Research Foundation (African Origins Platform) for grants that supported the excavation and research at Drimolen. This work was also supported by a La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship and La Trobe University Internal Research grant to A.B.L., A.M., B.J.A., T.R.E., T.M., and R.C.S., and a Society of Antiquaries London research grant to J.M.M. Components of the palaeomagnetic work were conducted during a Visiting Research Fellowship to T.M. at the Institute for Rock Magnetism, University of Minnesota, supported through the National Science Foundation, USA. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.",

year = "2020",

month = apr,

day = "3",

doi = "10.1126/science.aaw7293",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "368",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6486",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa

AU - Herries, Andy I.R.

AU - Martin, Jesse M.

AU - Leece, A. B.

AU - Adams, Justin W.

AU - Boschian, Giovanni

AU - Joannes-Boyau, Renaud

AU - Edwards, Tara R.

AU - Mallett, Tom

AU - Massey, Jason

AU - Murszewski, Ashleigh

AU - Neubauer, Simon

AU - Pickering, Robyn

AU - Strait, David S.

AU - Armstrong, Brian J.

AU - Baker, Stephanie

AU - Caruana, Matthew V.

AU - Denham, Tim

AU - Hellstrom, John

AU - Moggi-Cecchi, Jacopo

AU - Mokobane, Simon

AU - Penzo-Kajewski, Paul

AU - Rovinsky, Douglass S.

AU - Schwartz, Gary T.

AU - Stammers, Rhiannon C.

AU - Wilson, Coen

AU - Woodhead, Jon

AU - Menter, Colin

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the student excavators from the La Trobe University (LTU) Drimolen Palaeoanthropology and Geoarchaeology Field School and University of Victoria Field School, as well as the University of Florence Archaeological Mission to Drimolen. In particular, we thank LTU Ph.D. student R. Curtis who first found parts of the DNH 134 cranium. We thank D. Smith, J. Smith, and K. Nkosi, the landowners at Drimolen at various stages and who granted our permission to work at the site, in conjunction with the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA). The DNH 152 cranium is named after the landowner (Khethi) as he excavated with us on the field school and discovered the first tooth. We say a special thanks to our co-author Simon Mokobane for his many years of work at the site. Simon recently passed away from cancer and he will be remembered fondly by many generations of people who have worked at Drimolen. In recognition of this, we have named the DNH 134 cranium after him (Simon). This work would not have been possible without him. We thank D. Bilardello, M. Jackson, and J. Feinberg for their help and advice while measuring at the Institute of Rock Magnetism. We thank B. Zipfel for facilitating access to the hominin collections at the University of the Witwatersrand. The bulk of this research was funded by Australian Research Council Future Fellowship Grant FT120100399 to A.I.R.H. and ARC Discovery Grant DP170100056 to A.I.R.H., J.W.A., D.S.S., and R.J.-B. The U-Pb analysis was funded by ARC DECRA DE120102504 to R.P. The US-ESR dating was supported by ARC DP140100919 to R.J.-B. Work at the site by the Italian Archaeological Mission was supported by a series of grants by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to J.M.-C.; C.M. thanks the National Research Foundation (African Origins Platform) for grants that supported the excavation and research at Drimolen. This work was also supported by a La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship and La Trobe University Internal Research grant to A.B.L., A.M., B.J.A., T.R.E., T.M., and R.C.S., and a Society of Antiquaries London research grant to J.M.M. Components of the palaeomagnetic work were conducted during a Visiting Research Fellowship to T.M. at the Institute for Rock Magnetism, University of Minnesota, supported through the National Science Foundation, USA. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/4/3

Y1 - 2020/4/3

N2 - Understanding the extinction of Australopithecus and origins of Paranthropus and Homo in South Africa has been hampered by the perceived complex geological context of hominin fossils, poor chronological resolution, and a lack of well-preserved early Homo specimens. We describe, date, and contextualize the discovery of two hominin crania from Drimolen Main Quarry in South Africa. At ~2.04 million to 1.95 million years old, DNH 152 represents the earliest definitive occurrence of Paranthropus robustus, and DNH 134 represents the earliest occurrence of a cranium with clear affinities to Homo erectus. These crania also show that Homo, Paranthropus, and Australopithecus were contemporaneous at ~2 million years ago. This high taxonomic diversity is also reflected in non-hominin species and provides evidence of endemic evolution and dispersal during a period of climatic variability.

AB - Understanding the extinction of Australopithecus and origins of Paranthropus and Homo in South Africa has been hampered by the perceived complex geological context of hominin fossils, poor chronological resolution, and a lack of well-preserved early Homo specimens. We describe, date, and contextualize the discovery of two hominin crania from Drimolen Main Quarry in South Africa. At ~2.04 million to 1.95 million years old, DNH 152 represents the earliest definitive occurrence of Paranthropus robustus, and DNH 134 represents the earliest occurrence of a cranium with clear affinities to Homo erectus. These crania also show that Homo, Paranthropus, and Australopithecus were contemporaneous at ~2 million years ago. This high taxonomic diversity is also reflected in non-hominin species and provides evidence of endemic evolution and dispersal during a period of climatic variability.

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Contemporaneity of australopithecus, paranthropus, and early homo erectus in South Africa

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